# Why the "F" in VFW? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2004, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360 "2004-11-12T08:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360/1 "2004-11-12T08:46:18Z")
Was this done on purpose to exclude Civil War vets? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Llama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@The\_Llama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Llama)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360/2 "2004-11-12T10:42:49Z")
Why, do a lot of them show up complaining? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360/3 "2004-11-12T11:05:40Z")
The purpose of the F is to separate the V & W, without which, they would look like a small foreign car dealership. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360/4 "2004-11-12T11:06:23Z")
“Veterans of Wars” does need an extra syllable in it, since those words alone appear kind of redundant. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360/5 "2004-11-12T11:45:50Z")
[http://www.vfw.org/pdf/glance.pdf](http://www.vfw.org/pdf/glance.pdf) It would appear that the VFW was started in 1899 with the merger of two local/specialized veterans groups who were interested in getting better benefits for the soldiers who had served in the recent Spanish Wars. One assumes that the Civil War vets had their benefits pretty well secured by that time. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360/6 "2004-11-12T13:01:39Z")
If the Canadians were to invade, would the military that fought off the invasion on US soil be ineligible for future membership in the VFW? ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360/7 "2004-11-12T14:06:19Z")
Here’s a link that proposts to show the VFW eligibility requirements: [http://www.vfw.org/pdf/eligibility.pdf](http://www.vfw.org/pdf/eligibility.pdf) I don’t see the Civil War but you can still apply if you were in Puerto Rico in the fall of 1898. ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360/8 "2004-11-12T14:41:27Z")
Civil War vets had the GAR - the Grand Army of the Republic. So I would suspect you may be onto something as to why they included the F in VFW. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-f-in-vfw/274360/9 "2004-11-12T17:48:31Z")
In my home town, the VFW headquarters is on Grand Army of the Republic Highway. I always found that pretty amusing. In any event, this is just to confirm what others have said. The VFW was formed as a political action group to gain benefits for the Spanish-American War vets, whereas the Civil War vets already had acheived pensions through the GAR. The VFW membership exploded with WWI, and continued its actions on behalf of each new group of veterans. The VFW accepted the new veterans, while the GAR was permanently limited to Civil War vets by charter, and did not.